View of the fen on a cloudy day.

Boy Scout volunteers on a restoration project pack in to the fen.

After helping eradicate invasive reed canary grass (with herbicides), the Scouts planted native carex stricta or hummock sedge.

The red-stem aster, a native fen plant.

High quality fibrous peat on the left — and, on the right, degraded peat with reed canary grass root mass.

Nicols Fen photos

Photos: Mark Cleveland, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.